Manufacture of lavatories and the like.



MANUFACTURE OF LAVATQR III IIIIIIIII E.

RAYMOND E. CRANE, F LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA.

MANUFACTURE OF LAVATOBIES AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Patented May 11, 1915.

Application filed ()ctober 15, 1913. Serial No. 795,201.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RAYMOND E. CRANE,

' a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Gates, in the county of Santa Clara and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Lavatories and the like, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in the manufacture of earthenware vessels such as are used for lavatory purposes, as for instance earthenware wash-stands and the like. These fixtures are usually provided with a main basin portion which depends from a slab, and they are generally provided with a back adjacent to the wall, against which water can splash and thus be diverted to the basin instead of soiling the walls of the room.

The object of my invention is to simplify the method of manufacturing suitable fix,- tures which will accomplish the intended purpose, and at the same time, will result in uniform fixtures which will stand the firing operation without too great a distortion resulting from shrinkage during the firing operation. It is recognized by those skilled in the art that earthenware fixtures spun under a forming tool are likely to be more uniform, and free from many of the defects that are common to hand-pressed articles.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of an apparatus designed to form a lavatory in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing amodified construction of the apparatus.

In Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the application of my improvement to the manufacture of a washstand of the type wherein the lavatory slab is integral with the basin, and the outside portion of the basin formedby a forming tool as above mentioned. This figure represents a vertical cross-section of a lavatory in the course of manufacture, showing the mold on which it is made, and the forming tool in position. This lavatory is spun on a revolving spindle, on the center line E-F. Lavatory N is shown in an inverted position on the mold O. The slab level line AB shows the extent this lavatory is tilted out of its position in the drawing as compared with the manner in which it is placed when installed. Then this basin is installed it is inverted to an opposite position to that in the drawing, so that the plane of the slab represented by the line AB is horizontal. The back, R, is homogeneously united to the balance of the fixture and the portion inclosed between the dotted line Z indicating the rear face of the back, R, and the formed outer surface of the lavatory can either be out 011 after the entire fixture is spun in the shape indicated, or the fiat portion indicated by the line Z can be formed by hand process, using the mold L. The forming blade M revolving on the center EF is shown as forming only the outside portionof the basin N. If desired, forming tool M can be extended so as to shape the entire outside of the fixture, forming the shape indicated in Fig. 2. In the latter case, also, portion of the clay would have to be out olf to form a flat surface in the rear ofothe back B, so that it could be readily attached to the wall. Also, in each instance, the clay portion P, which is made in the same forming operation as the balanceof the basin, can be cut away in order to make the fixture thinner at this point, but said cutting would be done after said forming operation has been completed.

In removing the fixture from the mold O in the form shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, it is necessary to lift the circular mold L from off the lavatory rim and back, after which the entire mold and lavatory can be inverted and the lavatory N be dropped on a suitable shaped rest to receive same until the lavatory is sufficiently dry to hold its shape, after which the fixture is smoothed, usuallv with sponges or sand-paper, preliminary to the firing operation. The fixture formed in the manner indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings is similarly treated after it has been spun under the forming tool M, and the surplus clay adjacent the non-circular portions has been removed.

The shape of the lavatory shown in the drawings has the further advantage of be-' ing in the form of an arch, so that it is to a large degree self-supporting during the firing operation, and the shrinkage of the back and basin and slab is made more uniform and the distortion during the firing operation very largely obviated, as the parts are homogeneously united in the form of a dome.

The advantage of a lavatory slab being placed in the mold on an angle, so that both 1 ing tool, gives a very superior construction and a form in which a much greater density can be given to the soft clay by the pressure of the forming tool as compared with what the density would be were the basin slab to rest horizontally on the plane A-B. In this latter case there would be a tendency of the clay to fall away from the mold and the mold would not have the opportunity of supporting the weight of this soft clay. This is a very important feature in simplifying the manufacture. Should the clay.

be strained at the junction of the back and slab, or at the junction of the slab and the rear wall of the basin, as is often the case in the usual method of making earthenware lavatories, the pressure from the forming tool is sufficient to assist in knitting the parts together, and after firing, the entire piece will be a harmonious and homogeneous unit of great strength and symmetry.

It will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that it is possible for the portion of the lavatory which is formed below the lower end of the forming tool to be made any desired shape by means of the mold L without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim therein as new, and'desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The method of forming an earthenware lavatory including as an integral homogeneous structure, a non-circular bowl,

a slab and a back, which consists in applying a mass of clay to a mold having the noncircular contour of the bowl interior, spinning the clay to a circular contour to preliminarily form the outside of the bowl, and removing the surplus clay from the outer non-circular portion of the bowl.

2. The method of forming an integral homogeneous earthenware lavatory including a slab, a back and a non-circular bowl which consists in applying a mass of clay to a mold to form the non-circular contour of the bowl interior, the face of the slab and the back, spinning the clay to a circular contour to preliminarily form the outside of the bowl and finally removing the surplus clay adjacent the non-circular portion of the bowl.

3. The method of forming an integral ho- U RAYMOND E. CRANE. lVitnesses M. M. DAVIS, N. MoGUsKEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

